Iguodala: Curry still ‘underrated,’ No. 2 PG ever
Andre Iguodala says Steph Curry is underrated and he won’t ever get the respect he deserves. (0:48)
PHILADELPHIA — Golden State superstar Stephen Curry has won two MVP awards and three NBA championships, but he is still “underrated,” according to Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala.
In fact, Iguodala also believes that Curry is the second-best point guard of all time at this point in his career.
“I still think he doesn’t really get the respect he deserves,” Iguodala said after watching Curry drop 28 points in a 120-117 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night. “Guys think he uses a lot of screens and guys think they can draw mismatches with him defensively, but he’s a real problem. I think I told [Kevin Durant], he said he missed me on the shot he took, and I said, ‘Y’all two are like Michael Jordan, there’s no such thing as a bad shot.’ That’s for real, and people don’t understand the presence they bring to the court. Especially on the offensive end.”
Stephen Curry shook off foul trouble to score 28 points and spark the Golden State Warriors down the stretch of a 120-117 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.
The return of DeMarcus Cousins gave Golden State a lineup whose members could all end up in the Hall of Fame. But the results so far have been mixed.
Iguodala, who later said that Magic Johnson is the best point guard of all time, does not think that Curry ever will get the respect he deserves.
“He won’t ever get it,” Iguodala said. “It is what it is sometimes. But when you sit down and have serious conversations, that’s when you — he’s the second-best point guard ever — you argue that.”
Curry took Iguodala’s comments in stride after helping the Warriors finish off a win at the end of a long four-game road trip.
“Every day he texts me when I wake up in the morning and tells me that same comment,” Curry said, with sarcasm. “I got some work to do to get to No. 1 apparently.”
Iguodala’s comments also gave Curry a chance to promote the tour he has set up for prospects who fly under the radar.
“Underrated.com,” Curry said after being told of Iguodala’s “underrated” remark. “Check out the tour. They’re in Philly today and tomorrow. I’m trying to share that with the world for sure. Underratedtour.com, sorry.”
Curry said he’s not thinking about his own legacy at the moment, but his teammates already know the powerful force he has had on the game all over the world.
“Just his impact on the game as a whole,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “He cannot score a bucket and work an entire defense … most important is impact on the game of basketball. Have you been to a high school game or a middle school game — Mark Jackson said a few years ago, ‘Steph is ruining the game of basketball.’ We all was pissed off like, ‘What, what is he talking about?’ I went to some high school games and I said I see what he’s talking about. He’s not talking about Steph per se that’s ruining basketball, but he’s making a lot of other people think they can do what he does. And it ain’t the case. And so organization good, game good, team good, but the game of basketball is really where he makes his hay.”
As for the “underrated” comment, Green was also in agreement with Iguodala.
“I think so,” Green said. “Magic was great obviously, but it’s also two completely different types of point guards. I don’t think Steph is close to being the type of point guard as Magic — at the type of point guard Magic was. And vice versa. Magic’s not close to being as close to the type of point guard as Steph is. But in his own right [Steph] probably is the best ever, and especially in the way the game is played today. He’s continuing to climb; that’s amazing. Like Andre said, you still don’t see him get the due that he deserves, but it is what it is.”